Ex-postmaster Given 2 Years Probation

February 15, 1990|By MARC R. TURPIN Staff Writer

ISLE OF WIGHT — The former Battery Park postmaster convicted in October of attempting to buy cocaine from undercover investigators was sentenced to a two-year probation Wednesday as a first-time offender.

Garland Van Batten Jr., 39, who faced up to 10 years in prison, was placed under supervised probation until March 1992 by Circuit Judge Westbrook J. Parker. Under the terms of the sentence, Batten must take periodic drug tests.

During Batten's trial in June the court agreed to treat him as a first-time offender if background reports proved he had no previous convictions.

"I don't know what to say. I've been through so much. I've been to court 10 times," said Batten, in an interview after the sentencing. "I'm thankful."

Batten, who had no previous criminal record, was arrested in December 1988 after trying to buy $700 worth of what he believed was cocaine - actually Coffee-Mate - from an undercover U.S. Postal Service investigator. During a police interrogation soon after his arrest, Batten signed a statement saying he bought the substance for two acquaintances and would make $150 from the transaction.

Batten had been postmaster at Battery Park for 13 years and earned about $20,000 annually. After his arrest he was suspended without pay.

Batten was targeted by the Postal Service based on information from an informant. Batten later claimed the informant had a criminal record "10 miles long." The investigation began with the informant offering Batten a chance to earn extra money by using the mail to transport drugs. Batten, who throughout his defense maintained that he contacted police after being approached by the informant, said Wednesday that the State Police asked him to follow through with the drug deal.

Between December 1987 and March 1988 an undercover postal inspector, Michael Parson, had several meetings and recorded telephone coversations with Batten about the possibility of buying and selling drugs. The inspector said Batten had offered to sell him dilaudid, a form of synthetic heroin.

"Why would I go to the State Police if I was going to do this?" Batten asked reporters. "I was told by the State Police to set the deal up."

The Postal Service temporarily stopped its investigation that March after Wayne Hollowell - a special agent with the State Police and a friend of Batten's - learned about the probe.

H. Woodrow Crook, Batten's defense attorney, said Wednesday his client had health concerns resulting in an "addiction to pain-killing drugs," adding "it shows why the United States Postal Service focused on Mr. Batten. There was no case where Mr. Batten was involved in illegal drugs."

Crook argued his client had a prominent job title, resulting in extensive media coverage. Crook asked the judge not to allow the attention focused on the trial to influence his decision and argued that Batten should not be sentenced to prison as an example to others.

"In any case I've ever tried, I've never been pressured by the news media to reach a decision," Judge Parker said. "I try to fashion a sentence that meets the needs of the county, the defendant, the bench and society."

Batten said he expects to accept a job recently offered to him in the Smithfield area and hopes to rebuild his life.